Taking place at the Putteridge Bury campus, this night-time outdoor event saw students from courses including Forensic Science, Paramedic Science, and Professional Policing working together to assess and manage the ‘crime scene’ out in the meadow.

This year’s scenario was a gang-related knife crime and saw the future professionals working together to tackle the realistic scenario and put to use their intense training - all while working within unpredictable weather environments and in darkness.

Kerrie Stoughton, third-year Forensic Science student, said: “It’s been absolutely great; this event really helps students. It gives you an out-of-classroom experience where everything is not scripted and not protocoled – it’s actually having to think on your feet.”

This activity – led by academics from the School of Life Sciences – aims to provide students with a glimpse into careers in their chosen fields, such as Crime Scene Investigators or first responders such as paramedics, while also enhancing their teamwork skills by collaborating with students from other courses.

Dr Slava Klibanecz, Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science, said: “The aim of this activity was to enable students from all the departments to experience the reality of attending a complex and largescale outdoor ‘crime scene’ taking place in darkness and potentially bad weather. It provided an excellent opportunity, not available to students from other universities, to learn how various agencies liaise and collaborate at crime scenes and gain appreciation that one department or agency cannot function in isolation. Special thanks are due to the staff of Putteridge Bury for their continued support in facilitating this event.”

For the second year running, students from the School of Arts & Creative Industries, including Photography and Journalism students, also joined the activity to produce live images and broadcasts from the fictional crime scene.